Not from Berlin – 1974 Alfa Romeo Berlina

To celebrate last weekend’s Berlina Register drive through the wine country backroads, and because hey, an affordable one actually came up, we have an example of this early sports sedan to share. While BMW was just getting things going with the Neue Klasse and 02-series cars, Alfa Romeo had been building sporting sedans since at least 1950. Released in 1967 (1969 in North America), the Berlina took the basic Giulia sedan and changed the front, rear and doors to make a new, larger car. They never quite matched BMW’s success with the 2002 (and to a lesser degree, the 1602), but these days enjoy strong demand among enthusiasts. Prices for good, solid drivers have slipped out of our realm, so these rarely come up, but you can find this 1974 Alfa Romeo Berlina in Menlo Park, CA for only $1500.

Okay, so this looks a little worse for wear, and it’s a 1974 model, which would have had the giant rubber bumpers. But the seller does give an interesting detail – when he bought the car out of a field in Oregon, he put in a fuel pump and clutch master and drove it all the way down to the San Francisco area. However, while he was doing that, the heater core started leaking and rain came in around the windshield. As you can see, he’s started some level of restoration work. He’s already done a fair amount of work, but the car still needs a lot more. Since the windshield is out and the front is primed, it begs the question of whether the windshield work was finished. What would you do with this car? Finish it to its original Rosso Amaranto glory? Throw it back together as is and drive the wheels off it? Or park it by the side of the road with a signed title in the glovebox?

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I just bought this Berlina, and it is a very solid car. After sitting two years with no attention, one turn of the key brought it to life. We are working on the driveline and suspension. Who knows after that.